Half-Heartless
Chapter Six
"Wait 'til you see Traverse Town. That place is great." explains Sora, his lapis blue eyes glinting playfully in the starlight. Traverse Town? Why does that sound so strikingly familiar...?
I managed to unbuckle myself from that walking, talking rant and stand by Sora. The cockpit isn't exactly roomy (far from it), but, hey, I'm going on an adventure. An adventure! After all this time of being locked up from the rest of the universe, pulled down into depression by the jeering Heartless. I had asked Storm multiple times to pinch me. I can swear I'm dreaming.
"Storm," I say, "Pinch me."
"This'll be the eighteenth time. You're not dreaming, Des." laughs Storm as he reaches out and pinches me on the arm. I shriek and jump back. Storm knows how to pinch; grab as much skin as possible and twist it. I glare at him, and he laughs. "You're the one who asked me to."
Meanwhile, Maria, who is sharing a seat with Goofy, is the dog's problem. She's squeaking out made-up songs like there's no tomorrow, and dancing while she's sitting down. Well, I can tell that she was thrilled to get away from Deep Jungle. Suddenly, Storm slides out from the hold of his seatbelt and cries, "Land ho!"
I rush over beside him. Traverse Town looks familiar as well. It's beautiful, too, in a man-made way. After nothing but nature, I'm in the mood for a little civillization. We land outside of the gates. Sora debates on hw he would get us in without everyone seeing us and flipping out, but thankfully Donald has some rain coats in the back that we can slip on.
Maria and I have a bit of a difficulty keeping our tails under the rain coat, but curling it around my body does just fine (it's a bit itchy, though). Storm's wings provide a bit more of a problem, though. But Sora figures that any creatures from any world can find Traverse Town, so he cuts holes for Storm's wings.
I marvel at everything. The cafe is lit up with candles, and the balcony above it would certainly provide a splendid view. Steps lead us up higher, where there are a few shops.
Sora smiles and walks up to a teenage girl with short black hair, standing by the postcard box. She's wearing orange fingerless gloves, a green quarter-length shirt, and shorts that look a bit too small for her. Her socks go up to mid-thigh and she's wearing brown shoes.
"Hi, Yuffie," greets Sora. Yuffie (who, I guess, is the girl) looks up at the Keybearer and puts on a friendly grin. After greeting each other, she glances at me.
Yuffie bends down to my height and smiles. "Hello, I'm Yuffie. What's your name?"
I lower my head to keep her from seeing my amber eyes and say nothing. It's not like she'll understand me anyway. Sora understands my fix and grabs Yuffie's arm. She gives him a puzzled stare, but gets up anyway. They talk for awhile, but I can't help but notice how Yuffie eyes me occasionally.
"Oh, and this is Destiny. She's, uh, mute." explains Sora, indicating me. Yuffie gives me a sympathetic look. At least that got me out of the communication problem. "She's with her friends... who don't talk because she doesn't."
Sora pushed forward Storm and Maria. "The one in the blue coat is Storm and the one in the orange coat is Maria. Remember that. Blue, Storm. Orange, Maria. Yellow, Destiny."
"They're all kinda short, don't you think?" Yuffie asks. Sora nods slightly, and tells her about how we're from the wilds of Deep Jungle and don't know a lot of English anyway (Pfft, we know lots of English, we just can't speak it).
Donald crosses his arms, his eyes slanted in their usual "Let's-get-moving- before-I-blow-something-up-with-Fire" look. "Yuffie, where's Leon?"
"Um, I think he's in his secret training area... back by the alleyway..." explains Yuffie. Sora smiles at Yuffie before hurrying after Donald, who has run ahead out of impatience.
As we begin to approach the door to the Second District, I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach (if I have one...). There's something evil waiting for us on the other side of that door. A glance around show me that Maria and Storm are just as distressed.
Sora pushes open the door and ventures forward. I freeze and wait to see what will happen. The familiar bursting noise is heard, and a horde of Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, and Red Nocturnes surround the Keyblade master. Storm grabs Maria and I and flies to a safe distance away from the battle. We can't reveal who we are. It would be too risky, and the Heartless would be after us like mad dogs.
I wince every time Sora eliminates another Heartless. They never had a chance at life. Their hearts would ripped out of their bodies, fed on by the very creatures that they are today. They don't know what it's like to love, to be loved. The only thing they know is hatred. But somehow... somehow, if they tap into their emotions...
Could they decide to leave us alone and be safe?
The last Rhapsody falls. The struggle is over for now. We have a mission to finish. Storm lands and releases us from his hold. All of us obediantly wander along behind Sora, who seems to know Traverse Town like the back of his hand. He jumps down from the ledge.
Immediately, Soldiers swarm, but Sora just begins to run and we follow behind him. He swings open the door by the fountain and we're in an alley.
"There are too many Heartless here," grumbles Storm, "I can feel their power surging through the air... I had hoped that we didn't need to fight again. But it seems we have no choice."
As if on cue, more magic Heartless appeared around us. Maria gasps, as if she has an idea, and runs after one of the Requiems. She grabs it by the hat and pulls it down while the rest of us mutilates the wave of Heartless. I don't want to fight, but, like Storm said, I don't think we have much of a choice.
After the battle, everyone looks to Maria, who is struggling with the healer. "Calm down and stop squirming! I just want to talk to you, for Pete's sake!"
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" peeps the little green mage, "Just don't hurt me! I'm only following orders! Guard Armor told me to!!!!"
"I thought Guard Armor was dead..." I remark suspiciously.
"Shows what you know! Didn't you hear that Ian was... oh yeah, you're not from these parts, so you probably don't know who Ian is. And how can you talk to me, anyway?"
"Keep quiet! We ask the questions, you give us the answers!" hisses Storm. Maria and I stare at him open-mouthed. I never knew he could speak so harshly.
The Green Requiem seems surprised. "Okay, okay. What do you wanna ask me? And remember, you didn't get ANY of these answers from me!!!"
Her voice is high-pitched and squeaky, and she runs her sentences together as if there was no such thing as punctuation. So the last sentence sounded like this:
"Okay okay what do you wanna ask me and remember you didn't get ANY of these answer from me!!"
I have to rub my temples. The creature's voice is giving me a headache.
"First off," Storm replies, "What's your name?"
"Melanie. Everyone calls me Mel."
"Where are your forces?"
"Most of them are in the Second District, the lower part. You just killed all of the ones in the alleyway, and there's also plenty of waves of Heartless in the Gizmo Shop. There's also some in the Third District."
Sora is watching us, confused. I run up, grasp the pocket notebook, and write down all the information as fast as humanely possibly. Maria looks up at Storm. Her grip is weakening. The Air Pirate grabs the Requiem away from her and holds it in a tight grip.
"You're coming along as a prisoner." he declares. Mel glares at him angrily, but Storm doesn't seem to notice. I hand the notebook back to Sora and, after reading it, he grins.
Sora, Goofy, and Donald get into the water and do an amusing combo to the bars. They break. The Keyblade master motions for us to come along, and we jump into the water after him. All of us swim into the place where the bars once stood. It's dark and dank in this underground cavern. With our beady, glowing yellow eyes built for darkness, Storm, Maria, Mel, and I can see just fine. But the others don't do so well. I giggle when Goofy bumps into the wall.
Sora joins two other humans on a dry platform. One is a young man with brown hair, wearing tight black leather. He's swinging around a dangerously large sword. The other is a woman, brown hair braided down her back. She's wearing a pink dress and looks kind and gentle. We walk onto the platform after him. Storm hides Mel behind his back.
"Who're they?" the man points at us, a suspicious, accusing look in his dark eyes. Sora introduces us and gives him the same explanation he gave Yuffie earlier.
"Destiny, Maria, Storm, this is Leon and Aerith." Sora introduces. Aerith smiles at us, but Leon still has the scowl on his face.
"Oh, forget it," growls Donald, revealing a green Gummi Block and handing it to Leon, "You know what this is?"
"..." it's clear that he doesn't know a thing. Then Aerith remarks, "You should go find Cid. He should know what to do."
Sora turns to leave, but then swivels back around. "Hey... do you think that there could be 'good' Heartless? If they somehow learned how to have emotions or something?"
"Well... there might be." answers Aerith.
"I don't think so," is Leon's opinion, "Heartless are Heartless and all of the ones I've encountered are just as mindless as the last."
The Key Holder considers both opinions, looking down at me. Then he turns and begins to swim back. All of us jump in and follow.
[Author's Note]
Maji: Fairly short chapter. I had writer's block.
Vivi: *eats ice cream* I thought it was good.
Maji: *eyes sparkle* Really?
Vivi: No! Haha, tricked you, loser!
Gypsy: *munches on popcorn and watches Maji chase Vivi around, screaming death threats* Heh heh heh... I wonder who'll win... if Vivi kills Maji, that means he's all mine...
Maji: I HEARD THAT!!!!!
[Disclaimer]
Disclaimer served in last five chapters. You should be able to piece apart what I own and don't.
Chapter Six
"Wait 'til you see Traverse Town. That place is great." explains Sora, his lapis blue eyes glinting playfully in the starlight. Traverse Town? Why does that sound so strikingly familiar...?
I managed to unbuckle myself from that walking, talking rant and stand by Sora. The cockpit isn't exactly roomy (far from it), but, hey, I'm going on an adventure. An adventure! After all this time of being locked up from the rest of the universe, pulled down into depression by the jeering Heartless. I had asked Storm multiple times to pinch me. I can swear I'm dreaming.
"Storm," I say, "Pinch me."
"This'll be the eighteenth time. You're not dreaming, Des." laughs Storm as he reaches out and pinches me on the arm. I shriek and jump back. Storm knows how to pinch; grab as much skin as possible and twist it. I glare at him, and he laughs. "You're the one who asked me to."
Meanwhile, Maria, who is sharing a seat with Goofy, is the dog's problem. She's squeaking out made-up songs like there's no tomorrow, and dancing while she's sitting down. Well, I can tell that she was thrilled to get away from Deep Jungle. Suddenly, Storm slides out from the hold of his seatbelt and cries, "Land ho!"
I rush over beside him. Traverse Town looks familiar as well. It's beautiful, too, in a man-made way. After nothing but nature, I'm in the mood for a little civillization. We land outside of the gates. Sora debates on hw he would get us in without everyone seeing us and flipping out, but thankfully Donald has some rain coats in the back that we can slip on.
Maria and I have a bit of a difficulty keeping our tails under the rain coat, but curling it around my body does just fine (it's a bit itchy, though). Storm's wings provide a bit more of a problem, though. But Sora figures that any creatures from any world can find Traverse Town, so he cuts holes for Storm's wings.
I marvel at everything. The cafe is lit up with candles, and the balcony above it would certainly provide a splendid view. Steps lead us up higher, where there are a few shops.
Sora smiles and walks up to a teenage girl with short black hair, standing by the postcard box. She's wearing orange fingerless gloves, a green quarter-length shirt, and shorts that look a bit too small for her. Her socks go up to mid-thigh and she's wearing brown shoes.
"Hi, Yuffie," greets Sora. Yuffie (who, I guess, is the girl) looks up at the Keybearer and puts on a friendly grin. After greeting each other, she glances at me.
Yuffie bends down to my height and smiles. "Hello, I'm Yuffie. What's your name?"
I lower my head to keep her from seeing my amber eyes and say nothing. It's not like she'll understand me anyway. Sora understands my fix and grabs Yuffie's arm. She gives him a puzzled stare, but gets up anyway. They talk for awhile, but I can't help but notice how Yuffie eyes me occasionally.
"Oh, and this is Destiny. She's, uh, mute." explains Sora, indicating me. Yuffie gives me a sympathetic look. At least that got me out of the communication problem. "She's with her friends... who don't talk because she doesn't."
Sora pushed forward Storm and Maria. "The one in the blue coat is Storm and the one in the orange coat is Maria. Remember that. Blue, Storm. Orange, Maria. Yellow, Destiny."
"They're all kinda short, don't you think?" Yuffie asks. Sora nods slightly, and tells her about how we're from the wilds of Deep Jungle and don't know a lot of English anyway (Pfft, we know lots of English, we just can't speak it).
Donald crosses his arms, his eyes slanted in their usual "Let's-get-moving- before-I-blow-something-up-with-Fire" look. "Yuffie, where's Leon?"
"Um, I think he's in his secret training area... back by the alleyway..." explains Yuffie. Sora smiles at Yuffie before hurrying after Donald, who has run ahead out of impatience.
As we begin to approach the door to the Second District, I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach (if I have one...). There's something evil waiting for us on the other side of that door. A glance around show me that Maria and Storm are just as distressed.
Sora pushes open the door and ventures forward. I freeze and wait to see what will happen. The familiar bursting noise is heard, and a horde of Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, and Red Nocturnes surround the Keyblade master. Storm grabs Maria and I and flies to a safe distance away from the battle. We can't reveal who we are. It would be too risky, and the Heartless would be after us like mad dogs.
I wince every time Sora eliminates another Heartless. They never had a chance at life. Their hearts would ripped out of their bodies, fed on by the very creatures that they are today. They don't know what it's like to love, to be loved. The only thing they know is hatred. But somehow... somehow, if they tap into their emotions...
Could they decide to leave us alone and be safe?
The last Rhapsody falls. The struggle is over for now. We have a mission to finish. Storm lands and releases us from his hold. All of us obediantly wander along behind Sora, who seems to know Traverse Town like the back of his hand. He jumps down from the ledge.
Immediately, Soldiers swarm, but Sora just begins to run and we follow behind him. He swings open the door by the fountain and we're in an alley.
"There are too many Heartless here," grumbles Storm, "I can feel their power surging through the air... I had hoped that we didn't need to fight again. But it seems we have no choice."
As if on cue, more magic Heartless appeared around us. Maria gasps, as if she has an idea, and runs after one of the Requiems. She grabs it by the hat and pulls it down while the rest of us mutilates the wave of Heartless. I don't want to fight, but, like Storm said, I don't think we have much of a choice.
After the battle, everyone looks to Maria, who is struggling with the healer. "Calm down and stop squirming! I just want to talk to you, for Pete's sake!"
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" peeps the little green mage, "Just don't hurt me! I'm only following orders! Guard Armor told me to!!!!"
"I thought Guard Armor was dead..." I remark suspiciously.
"Shows what you know! Didn't you hear that Ian was... oh yeah, you're not from these parts, so you probably don't know who Ian is. And how can you talk to me, anyway?"
"Keep quiet! We ask the questions, you give us the answers!" hisses Storm. Maria and I stare at him open-mouthed. I never knew he could speak so harshly.
The Green Requiem seems surprised. "Okay, okay. What do you wanna ask me? And remember, you didn't get ANY of these answers from me!!!"
Her voice is high-pitched and squeaky, and she runs her sentences together as if there was no such thing as punctuation. So the last sentence sounded like this:
"Okay okay what do you wanna ask me and remember you didn't get ANY of these answer from me!!"
I have to rub my temples. The creature's voice is giving me a headache.
"First off," Storm replies, "What's your name?"
"Melanie. Everyone calls me Mel."
"Where are your forces?"
"Most of them are in the Second District, the lower part. You just killed all of the ones in the alleyway, and there's also plenty of waves of Heartless in the Gizmo Shop. There's also some in the Third District."
Sora is watching us, confused. I run up, grasp the pocket notebook, and write down all the information as fast as humanely possibly. Maria looks up at Storm. Her grip is weakening. The Air Pirate grabs the Requiem away from her and holds it in a tight grip.
"You're coming along as a prisoner." he declares. Mel glares at him angrily, but Storm doesn't seem to notice. I hand the notebook back to Sora and, after reading it, he grins.
Sora, Goofy, and Donald get into the water and do an amusing combo to the bars. They break. The Keyblade master motions for us to come along, and we jump into the water after him. All of us swim into the place where the bars once stood. It's dark and dank in this underground cavern. With our beady, glowing yellow eyes built for darkness, Storm, Maria, Mel, and I can see just fine. But the others don't do so well. I giggle when Goofy bumps into the wall.
Sora joins two other humans on a dry platform. One is a young man with brown hair, wearing tight black leather. He's swinging around a dangerously large sword. The other is a woman, brown hair braided down her back. She's wearing a pink dress and looks kind and gentle. We walk onto the platform after him. Storm hides Mel behind his back.
"Who're they?" the man points at us, a suspicious, accusing look in his dark eyes. Sora introduces us and gives him the same explanation he gave Yuffie earlier.
"Destiny, Maria, Storm, this is Leon and Aerith." Sora introduces. Aerith smiles at us, but Leon still has the scowl on his face.
"Oh, forget it," growls Donald, revealing a green Gummi Block and handing it to Leon, "You know what this is?"
"..." it's clear that he doesn't know a thing. Then Aerith remarks, "You should go find Cid. He should know what to do."
Sora turns to leave, but then swivels back around. "Hey... do you think that there could be 'good' Heartless? If they somehow learned how to have emotions or something?"
"Well... there might be." answers Aerith.
"I don't think so," is Leon's opinion, "Heartless are Heartless and all of the ones I've encountered are just as mindless as the last."
The Key Holder considers both opinions, looking down at me. Then he turns and begins to swim back. All of us jump in and follow.
[Author's Note]
Maji: Fairly short chapter. I had writer's block.
Vivi: *eats ice cream* I thought it was good.
Maji: *eyes sparkle* Really?
Vivi: No! Haha, tricked you, loser!
Gypsy: *munches on popcorn and watches Maji chase Vivi around, screaming death threats* Heh heh heh... I wonder who'll win... if Vivi kills Maji, that means he's all mine...
Maji: I HEARD THAT!!!!!
[Disclaimer]
Disclaimer served in last five chapters. You should be able to piece apart what I own and don't.